Twilight stood still for a few moments, petrified as her mind raced.
“What if everyone in Canterlot is affected as well? What if Celestia says this is my fault for not stopping Pinkie?” Twilight frantically asked, pacing left to right.
“Twilight!” Applejack yelled, and the unicorn before her stopped. “Remember what I told you, everything will be fine,” She continued, and smiled at her friend.
Twilight began to relax, slowly becoming less tense before hearing a carriage land behind her. Spinning around, Twilight saw a very regal, very pink Princess Celestia step out.
The Princess stood there for a moment, looking at the two of them. She put on a small smile and started walking towards them. “Twilight, Applejack,” she said, nodding towards each of them.
Applejack shook her head. “Princess!” she said, kneeling down and lowering her head.
“It’s quite fine, Applejack,” Celestia said, and looked to her student with a small smirk. “Not exactly what you expected, I’ll assume?”
The orange pony gingerly poked her friend. Twilight looked to Applejack, and back to Celestia. “Uh… Um, Princess…” Twilight looked the pink princess up and down, “No, not at all what I expected.”
“Are you… mad?” Twilight asked, looking to the pink-haired guards connected to her carriage.
“That, my student, depends on what caused it. But I must say, it was interesting to see the upper class worrying about everything,” Celestia said, shooting a smile towards Applejack. The orange pony let out a small laugh, being cut off with a glare from Twilight.
“We’re mighty sorry, Princess. Pinkie wanted to try out a new recipe and, well…” Applejack said, trailing off.
Twilight half stepped in front of her friend. “I must have miscalculated the blast radius. It wasn’t her fault—I should have consulted you beforehand, but there just wasn’t enough time to do it before testing, and I figured it would be safe but-“ the princess raised a hoof, and Twilight stopped.
“Everypony makes mistakes. As a student, you should know that,” Celestia said. Stepping forwards and lightly nuzzling her student, she continued, “I simply ask that you do your best. Treating mistakes like the end of the world is the last thing I would wish for you.”
Twilight started to ease, and let out a sigh. “You’re right, princess… But I can’t find Pinkie anywhere, Fluttershy’s babbling like she first met Spike, and I’m worried all of Equestria might be like this.” She stared up to the princess, her eyes wide.
Celestia looked over to the carriage. “Guards,” she said, “We’re looking for a pink pony, with a mane and tail similar to Applejack’s here. She’s unpredictable, so be careful.”
Walking towards the town, Celestia looked over her shoulder and said to the two ponies, “Well, come on then.”
Twilight and Applejack looked at each other, before speeding next to the princess.
“So, what are the symptoms, as far as you can tell?” Celestia asked, looking around the affected townsponies.
“Well princess, pink hair, pink bodies, and extreme talkativeness,” Twilight said, dodging a charging pink pony just in time. Spinning around, Twilight watched the pink Fluttershy giggle and bounce away.
Twilight’s face fell, her mouth open wide. “Oh this is not good,” she said.
Twilight slowly turned around, and was face-to-face with Celestia. She yelled, and jumped backwards. “Uhh…” she asked, “Princess?”
Slowly cantering forwards, a glean in her eyes, Celestia started on a spiel. “Twilight have you even been bowling? No I don’t think you have, given it was never in the castle. Ooh, I should install a bowling alley in the castle. Luna loves games so much, she would like it if it was in her area. We could play games and make all that stuffy old political stuff so much better!” she said, and stopped. Her face was half an inch from Twilights, eyes staring and grin across her face.
“Princess, uh, your majesty?” asked Applejack, “shouldn’t you search for Pinkie as well? Bein’ so… big, and all?”
Celestia stared at Applejack, deadpan for a few moments before jumping into the air and splaying her wings out. “That’s a brilliant idea I need to see her about the opening ceremony and what abo…” The rest drifted off as the Alicorn flew across town.
The two of them looked after the princess, Applejack with a stern expression and Twilight with her mouth open wide.
“Right. We need to get out of this before we start goin’ all crazy too,” said Applejack, as she began walking towards the library.
Twilight began cantering towards her home, still looking out towards the princess. “I… But…” she said, trailing off. “It’s advancing?” she asked herself, looking to the ponies around her. She noticed more pink than a short while ago.
Stepping inside the library, Applejack swung the door open and looked around. “No Fluttershy,” she said, and turned around.
Looking to Twilight, Applejack saw the mare’s frizzled hair, vacant face, and tears in the corners of her eyes. The farmpony slowly walked towards Twilight, a grin plastered on her face.
“Hey Twi, you feeling okay? I mean you don’t look that good and your hair is all messed up and are you gonna cry? I’m sure the princess will be back soon don’t mind you none, just as soon as she finds that Pinkie. I’m gonna head back to the farm lots of work to do,” she said a mile a minute, giving Twilight a small hug and bouncing off to Sweet Apple Acres.
Twilight dropped her head and stood quietly for a few moments, a single bastion of quiet serenity in the town. She shuffled inside the library, and began preparing to find Pinkie.